


coming home

by kateanderson



Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-03-01
Updated: 2016-03-01
Packaged: 2018-05-24 04:37:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6141735
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kateanderson/pseuds/kateanderson
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Tessa and Scott, currently (or not)</p>
            </blockquote>





	coming home

It would have been easier to arrive in Toronto and stay there for the 24 hours that she had until she needed to jet off again but London was home and she hadn't been home since...well, she couldn't really recall.

It was blowing snow, so hard that she was thankful the plane had managed to land. She sighed, recalling the pristine white beaches and turquoise waters she had left behind. Reaching into the seat pocket in front of her, she pulled out her phone, switched airplane mode off and tapped to open the few new texts she had received. One from her mom, confirming breakfast tomorrow (of course), one from Rachel to confirm her arrival in Regina (yes, she was still coming) and one from Scott, her airport taxi service had arrived.

Slowly the plane-load of people shuffled off and into the cold jetway. She shivered, wishing that she was still on the beach. Life had been so easy for the past week: wake up, eat breakfast, make the big decision of whether to go snorkelling or just lie on the beach, schmooze with the guests and then dinner and drinks by firelight. There were no real schedules or meetings.

But, she reminded herself, she had chosen this. And she was happy, biting back a bit the eager anticipation of seeing Scott again. They hadn't been apart this long since sometime last summer and she missed him. Missed the easy rapport they shared, the laughter, and the occasional kisses.

Her eyes flicked around the arrivals area, taking in a few couples hugging in reunions, what appeared to be a mother greeting a daughter and then she spotted Scott, a Leafs toque obscuring what was sure to be a terrible haircut that was way too short and his parka undone, hanging loosely at his sides. She scurried over to him, pressing herself to him, feeling him bury his face in her hair and she could hear the smile in his voice as he murmured, "You smell like the ocean." into her neck.

Reluctantly they separated, Tessa hitching her bag back onto her back. People were beginning to drift over to the luggage carousels and slowly they followed, Scott's hand on her back, gently guiding her. While they waited for her bag, she told him about her week and how much she had enjoyed it. "We'll need to go back." she said and then the carousel started and neither said anything about the "we".

Scott spotted her bag even before she did and he heaved it off with a practiced ease. Outside was freezing and her shoes slipped on the frozen ground as she followed Scott and her bag to his car. She slid inside, holding her hands in front of the vent as Scott loaded her bags into he trunk. "Did you bring back an entire coral reef?" he asked, brushing snow off his sleeves and bringing a rush of cold air into the car with him.

"Hardly." Tessa replied. "Apparently they frown on people doing that."

"Well," Scott said with a small humph. "I hope there's at least something in there for me."

Tessa smiled and looked out the window. She had found his present at the airport when she landed and had carted it everywhere with her for the week. "Maybe there is." she replied, still looking out the window.

Halfway home, when the roads got better, he reached out his hand and took hers. Their combined warmth on her lap seemed to seep through her, bringing a flush to her cheeks.

*

Her house seemed so big as he pulled up into the driveway. Someone had shovelled it, but she didn't know whether it had been Scott or one of her neighbours. The door yawned open as her key clicked in the lock and she was greeted with the smell of home - a faint combination of newness and sterility. She had apologized to the house, after they had made the decision to move to Montreal because it was a house made for a family, made for love and laughter, and it would be at least another few years before it could begin to have that.

Scott had kicked off his wet boots and shed the parka but the toque was still on his head. "How bad is it?" Tessa asked, gesturing upward.

"So bad." he replied. "I should probably wear a hat for the next week or so."

She reached up, snatching the toque off and then stood back, laughing biting at her throat. "You've gotta stop letting your mom cut it." she managed to get out before dissolving into giggles.

Scott brushed his hands over his shorn hair and sighed. "Yeah..."

It was late afternoon by this point, the sky beginning to darken from an already deep grey. "Are you staying?" Tessa asked, ready to suggest that if he wasn't, he needed to get home before the snow got even worse.

He nodded though and she nodded back. "I'm going to go take a quick shower. Do you want to order pizza or Chinese?"

"Let's do pizza." he said and she left him sitting in her kitchen, poring over a pizza menu, to go upstairs and strip off her travel clothes. She set the water for too hot and let the bathroom fill with steam before she stepped under the stream.

After, with her hair wrapped in a towel, she headed back downstairs, armed with the t-shirt she had purchased for him. He was on the couch now, eyes glued to the hockey game. "Here," she said and tossed the shirt at him. He caught it, looked at it and let out a loud guffaw.

"Nice, Tess." he said. She settled down beside him and he kissed her cheek. The flush returned to her face.

"I was asked about you all week." she said. "Danny and Ed say hi and that you should come next time."

His reasons for not going were a myriad and complicated. He'd tried to explain and she thought she understood but at the same time, not really. Scotland had been difficult for him but she knew that the one major reason for that was gone from his life and had tried to tell him it would be different this time but he stood firm and refused the invitation. "Maybe." he said. "It's not really my scene though."

Scott thought his scene was country music concerts or hockey games but she knew he was more than that. It was better to not push him though.

The doorbell rang and Scott hopped off the couch almost a little too eagerly. When he returned a few minutes later, his arms were laded down with pizza and six pack of pop. He set them down on the coffee table and they ate in silence, both focused on the game but neither could tell you the score.

*

Somewhere along the way since about November, they had made a habit of sleeping together. It was nothing sexual and they rarely even strayed from their respective sides of the bed but tonight, when he laid down beside her, she shuffled over across the imaginary line and pressed herself against him. She was cold, she complained, but really she had just missed his presence.

"Are you still coming tomorrow?" she asked, thinking about the trip to Regina that he had agreed to join her on.

"Of course." His voice was muffled in her hair. 

They would go to Regina, where she would do the requisite things for releasing a jewellery line and then go to Calgary to visit his brother and family before going to Sherwood Park for the seminars they had signed up for.

"Good," she replied. "I've missed you."


End file.
